By KRISTIE LINDEN
[email protected]
He came back and they didn’t — and that’s why any time The Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall comes anywhere close to the Mon Valley, Vietnam veteran Bill Callaway will be there.
It’s that simple.
The Memorial Wall is at the Washington Township Fire Co. Fire Hall and open to the public now through Sunday night.
Standing in front of the 3/5 scale of the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., which stands 6 feet tall at the center and covers almost 300 feet from end to end — it doesn’t seem like simple is the right word.
Maybe no words are the right ones, but simple comes the closest. Being there and honoring them, as they’ve always deserved to be honored — it’s the right thing to do and it is as simple as that.
Callaway, of Rostraver Township, said he was treated well when he returned home on his father’s birthday in 1966. His cab driver wouldn’t take payment for the ride home, where he picked up his car and drove to Howard Johnson’s where his mother worked.
Callaway said her boss told her “someone is here to see you,” and there he was. She asked “Billy, what are you doing home?”
“I’m done, Mama, I’m done,” he said.
They went to his grandmother’s house and he called his father at work, in the mill in Monessen.
“I said, ‘Hey Dad, how are you doing? I want to wish you a happy birthday.’ He asked where I was calling from, Vietnam? ‘No, from Mom’s house,’ and then — click,” Callaway said. “He was home in five minutes.”
A little less than 20 years later, Callaway visited the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., about a year after it opened. At first, he thought, “That’s what they’re giving us veterans? A Wall?”
But then Callaway stood in front of it and it took his breath away. When the Traveling Wall began to make its way around, he made an emotional commitment to be there as often as he could.
“They gave their lives,” Callaway said. “I knew some of them. A few from Monessen, I knew them, and from Rostraver. I walk down (past the Wall), I thank them.
“I made it back.”
Each year, Bikers Helping Others has a bike run and chooses a theme or cause to highlight and shine awareness upon, according to Janeen Sethman, secretary and one of BHO’s founding members.
For this year’s run, BHO’s members chose to pay tribute to those who served and those who died as a result of the Vietnam War.
The run was unofficially dedicated to one of BHO’s own, a Vietnam veteran who died this year but had looked forward to bringing the Wall to the township — Kirg Rupert Sr., father of Billy Rupert, a BHO founding member.
As planned, BHO helped bring the Wall to Washington Township Wednesday and showed their hearts during the opening ceremony Thursday morning under cloudy skies.
BHO Road Captain Dave Sethman said his group’s entire involvement in bringing the memorial here is about giving Vietnam veterans the thank you many of them never received.
“I don’t want you to thank BHO, I want you to thank these names on this Wall. Because by no means is this about us,” Sethman said, drawing a shaky breath. “It’s about all these names on this Wall and the people that came back and lived to tell the story of the people on this Wall.”
Sethman said he thought the ceremony — which included speeches from state Reps. Eric Davanzo, R-South Huntingdon, and Bud Cook, R-West Pike Run Township, state Sen. Pat Stefano, R-Bullskin Township, and Fayette County commissioners Vince Vicites and Scott Dunn — went extremely well.
Sethman got choked up again, looking at the scope of the size of the wall.
“They didn’t get the recognition and the thank you that they deserve and it bothered me that they didn’t get that thank you,” Sethman said. “Everyone else gets that thank you when they get back.”
BHO did the necessary fundraising to get the $7,400 it took to bring the Wall to the fire hall, with the help of several donors and sponsors. Davanzo helped to secure a grant for a portion of the costs.
The fire hall is located on Axton Drive in Washington Township (Fayette County), which is in the Belle Vernon area. Those who are unfamiliar with the area can turn off of state Route 201 (Fayette Avenue) on to Dull Street and then make a right onto Axton.
For more information about the bike run or BHO, go to www.bikershelpingothers.org, or find Bikers Helping Others on Facebook.
The official title of the Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall’s appearance in Washington Township is “Thanks Never Given.”
The Wall will be up and available to the public through Sunday evening and will leave the township Monday.
As the event closed, Pastor John Sethman said the veterans whose names are on the Wall gave up a lot for freedom — but so did their families. He spoke about the sacrifices made by mothers and fathers, siblings, spouses, children and friends.
“We stand here today because of all these men on this Wall gave,” John Sethman said.
To all veterans, the pastor said, “We love you guys. We appreciate you. We wouldn’t be here without you.”
